Today's blog is an excerpt from Dr. Wayne Dyer's book, Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling. I received this in the newsletter that brings to me timeless wisdom of Dr. Dyer. With gratitude to Dr. Wayne Dyer....

"A young woman complained to her mother about the hardships and difficulties in her life. She didn’t know how she was going to continue and wanted to give up. The young woman said, “I’m tired of fighting and struggling. It seems that as soon as one problem is solved, a new one appears.” In response, her mother took her to the kitchen and filled three pots with water, placing each on the stove over a high flame.

Soon the water came to boil. In the first pot she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about 20 minutes, she turned off the burners. The mother then fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She removed the eggs and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she said, “Tell me what you see.”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” the daughter replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After peeling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich flavour.

The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, Mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity, boiling water, and each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile, its thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior, but after the boiling water, its inside became hardened. But the ground coffee beans were unique—after they were in the boiling water, they’d changed the water itself."

A few years ago, science said that after childhood our brains could not change. Research now shows that this is not true – our brain cells are rearranging themselves every moment of every day. This supports us in learning at any age and in  shaping our life the way we want it to be.

What would you like to learn and how would you like to reshape your life?

Whatever your choice, there are two important considerations. Firstly, we need to have an intent to learn something. Second, we need to act on this. Intention without action will not take us anywhere.

This is true for everything we do in our lives. I can sit where I am right now and intend to drink a cup of tea but, if I don’t get up and make it, or ask somebody to, I will not be drinking any tea!!

Go on, set an intention to learn something today. And then, act on your intention. You don’t always have to enrol in a course to learn something. You can learn through listening, reading or even watching videos.

Since age is not a factor that impedes learning, what would you like to learn?

What would your answer be if I asked you “do you love yourself”? Hmm…that’s a difficult question, some of you may be thinking.

So, why is it that many of us don’t feel like we love ourselves? We don’t love ourselves because we are comparing our lives to another’s. We don’t love ourselves because we think that we can be happy and loving when we have this house or when we drive a certain car or when the bank balance reaches a particular amount. And what happens is that along the way, we forget to live gratefully, we forget to love the people who love us and find our lives are in chaos!

A great way to start loving who you are is to be grateful for your life, for everything that you already have in your life. Things may seem extremely difficult sometimes but it is important to give thanks for little miracles in your life. You could start by saying thank you to the Universe when you wake up each day because you have another chance at creating a life that you love. You can thank the person who is holding the lift for you at work. You can be grateful when somebody offers you their seat on the bus. You can smile at people you see as you go for a walk; the smile will always be returned. Give it a go and see how loving life is, how loving you can be towards yourself.

Embrace yourself – love the person that you are in this moment; a person who is filled with gratitude for everything that life brings. It does not matter what happened yesterday. Be ‘present’ in your life today; love yourself just as you are – warts and all.

I leave you with an excerpt from a beautiful song by Jai Josephs:

I love myself, the way I am, there's nothing I need to change.
I'll always be the perfect me, there's nothing to rearrange.
I'm beautiful and capable of being the best me I can.
And I love myself, just the way I am.

My first blog of the year!

I have utilised the time from when I stopped blogging late last year to focus on myself.

I had an amazing holiday with my family; and we spent most of our time amidst towering mountains, shimmering lakes and expanses of greenery in New Zealand. Time seemed to stay still as we walked near majestic mountains; saw reflections of the landscape in clear lakes and almost touched clouds. What an experience!

When I looked up at the mountains that have stood for millions of years, I saw myself as part of eternity. Similar to how water, ice and wind carve their way through the mountains; I have been shaped into who I am by Life. In this movie of the mountains, I play a fleeting part where I come and admire them and go my way. Then the next person visits and the one after her etc. The mountain however is standing still and knows that he is there forever; just as we are eternal in a non-physical sense.

Understanding that Life is eternal helps me to focus on my purpose for this lifetime and enjoy every moment. Although I may not know what the future holds, if I take that leap of faith, I know that Life will provide me with the next step and the one after that and so on.
 
 “I am worthy of the very best in Life, and I now lovingly allow myself to accept it”
~ Louise Hay